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Press Release Published: Sep 9, 2024

New COVID Select Memo Exposes Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, Reveals Interim Findings of COVID-19 Nursing Home Investigation

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Cuomo will testify before COVID Select at a 2:00pm public hearing tomorrow

WASHINGTON — Today, Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic Chairman Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio) released a staff memorandum titled “Findings from the Select Subcommittee’s Investigation into the Cuomo Administration’s March 25 Directive Admitting COVID-Positive Patients into Nursing Homes.” This memo presents evidence that former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and his team were involved in the decision to issue New York’s disastrous March 25 Directive, and then, acted repeatedly to downplay the tragic aftermath of their decision. New testimony revealed in the Select Subcommittee’s memo details how the former Governor’s office made a deliberate decision to exclude scientifically significant nursing home related COVID-19 deaths from mortality rates and heavily edit official New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) documents to shift blame away from Mr. Cuomo and his team.

The March 25 Directive recklessly directed New York nursing homes and long-term care facilities to admit COVID-positive and potentially COVID-positive patients. This authoritative “Directive” notably omitted Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) infection control guidance and did not consider whether a facility had the capacity to house COVID-positive patients. As a result, New York’s most vulnerable population was tragically exposed to COVID-19 unnecessarily. Today’s memo includes the findings of the Select Subcommittee’s thorough investigation into the development, issuance, and resulting cover-up of the March 25 Directive — including ten transcribed interviews and the review of nearly 550,000 pages of documents.

“The Cuomo Administration is responsible for recklessly exposing New York’s most vulnerable population to COVID-19. Today’s memo holds Mr. Cuomo and his team accountable for their failures and provides the most detailed and comprehensive accounting of New York’s pandemic-era wrongdoing. The Select Subcommittee has heard more than 50 hours of testimony with high-ranking, former Cuomo Administration officials and reviewed hundreds of thousands of documents — all of which paint a clear picture that the former Governor and his team issued disastrous, unscientific guidance on March 25, 2020, and have since attempted to deflect their actions. We hope that this memo provides clarity to the American people who deserve answers and accountability to the families and friends of the victims who especially deserve honesty from Mr. Cuomo and his former staff,” said Chairman Wenstrup.

Read the full memo here and view supporting materials here.

Key Memo Findings:

Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and his team were involved in the decision to issue the March 25 Directive.

  • The Former NYSDOH Commissioner testified that the March 25 Directive was prompted by a direct request to Mr. Cuomo from the Greater New York Hospital Association.
  • One former NYSDOH leader even testified that the March 25 Directive “absolutely” received approval from Mr. Cuomo’s team prior to public issuance.
  • Mr. Cuomo and his team continue to deny any involvement in the March 25 Directive and testified they were unaware of its existence until nearly one month after the directive was publicly issued.

The March 25 Directive was rescinded in response to public criticism, not because of a change in applicable science or a recognition of wrongdoing.

  • Mr. Cuomo testified that the March 25 Directive was terminated and replaced by an Executive Order because of “public relations” and because New Yorkers were “nervous” and “concerned.”
  • In December 2023, the former NYSDOH Commissioner testified that he still stands behind the State’s decision to issue the March 25 Directive and agrees with Mr. Cuomo that the Directive was only rescinded as a response to public pressure.

Mr. Cuomo’s team made a deliberate decision to exclude certain COVID-19 related nursing home deaths — a decision that hid the true nursing home mortality rate.

  • The Cuomo Administration changed its methodology of counting nursing home fatalities to exclude “out-of-facility deaths” — meaning the death of any individual who was infected with COVID-19 in a nursing home, but was later moved to a hospital for treatment, did not qualify as a nursing home fatality.
  • When pressed to explain why his Administration undercounted nursing home deaths, Mr. Cuomo callously remarked “— let’s say there’s a 3,000 differential, 2,500. Who cares? What difference does it make…”
  • Mr. Cuomo and Ms. DeRosa testified this decision was in response to an ongoing Department of Justice inquiry, their questions regarding the accuracy of the data, and the full data was released in February 2021.

The NYSDOH’s July 6, 2020 Report, which alleged nursing home staff — not the March 25 Directive — caused excess COVID-19 deaths, was edited by Governor Cuomo and his team and was not a scientific nor “peer reviewed” publication.

  • Former Cuomo Administration officials testified that the report — which was issued officially by the NYSDOH — was not independently authored by the NYSDOH, and instead, originated inside the Governor’s Office.
  • According to testimony from a former member of New York’s COVID-19 task force, Mr. Cuomo ordered the July 6 Report to be drafted to combat criticism of the March 25 Directive and then edited the language of the Report to reflect his personal preferences. Another former Cuomo staffer also testified that the “[July 6 Report] wouldn’t exist without me…”
  • Mr. Cuomo denies all involvement with the July 6 Report.

Testimony and evidence obtained by the Select Subcommittee establishes that the March 25 Directive was not consistent with federal guidance released by the CDC and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

  • CMS guidance stated that a nursing home CAN admit any individual it would normally admit — including patients from hospitals where COVID-19 is present — AS LONG AS the nursing home is able to follow CDC guidance. Exact language below:

  • The March 25 Directive — which functioned as a legal authoritative document — directly contradicted CMS and CDC guidance by stating that “no resident shall be denied re-admission or admission” to a nursing home if they test positive for COVID-19. It further prohibited nursing homes from testing individuals for COVID-19 prior to admission. The CMS guidance was also not referenced in the NYSDOH Directive. Exact language below:

  • Former White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Deborah Birx also testified that the March 25 Directive “violated” CMS guidance.

The current Governor of New York, Kathy Hochul, has not been cooperative with the Select Subcommittee’s requests for documents and information related to the Cuomo Administration’s March 25 Directive.

  • The Select Subcommittee is considering next steps and legal repercussions for Governor Hochul’s obstruction, including potentially issuing a subpoena.

Transcribed interviews with individuals influential to the findings of the report can be found below:

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